


burned flesh

by xiuris



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Firebending, Lightbending, M/M, MAMAPowers!AU, Neglection, Sadness, a very indifferent chanyeol, a very sad baekhyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 02:16:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16461542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiuris/pseuds/xiuris
Summary: King Baekhyun has no other choice than to marry Firelord Chanyeol, Ruler of the very Nation that killed his family and traumatized him for life. Will the flames swallow him?





	burned flesh

**Author's Note:**

> Horror#B6: Baekhyun grows up being afraid of fire because of a youth trauma, but is forced to marry firelord Chanyeol  
> Title: burned flesh  
> Pairing: Chanbaek  
> Rating: Explicit  
> TW: violence, blood, burn marks, past traumata, domestic abuse, neglection, angst, a lot of burning, torture, graphic violence/gore, minor characters death, a lot of sadness, sad baekhyun, cold/indifferent chanyeol, did I mention baekhyun is sad? 
> 
> I finally did this! Firstly thanks to the mods for always staying in contact with me and keeping up with me extending the deadline. <3  
> To the prompter: I hope you like this. I feel like this isn't exactly what you wanted but I tried! It wasn't part of the prompt but Baekhyun has his powers, too, albeit very weak and not developed. I just had this whole AU expanding in my head once I read this prompt and I keep adding more ideas. I couldn't put everything in there, sorry. I hope you are still satisfied with this!
> 
> I am not 100% happy with this, I will maybe edit some stuff, I was standing under a lot of time pressure with this because I lost so much time I thought I had and some parts were just hard to write. So please don't be too hard on me. I really tried!  
> Also English is not my first language! 
> 
> Please watch out. This may not be too much splatter or horror, but it is full of sadness. And isn’t sadness some kind of horror, too? If your mood is affected easily by the sadness of others, then please don’t read this. (Lmao that’s a trigger warning for myself here)

Fire and Light seemed to be deeply connected at first sight, but if you look again, they couldn’t be farer away. Light was calm, it was the sun shining on a beautiful spring day. It were the droplets of hope in the night to led the way. Fire was wild, it was the burning house, destroying the home of a family. It was the loud crackles of flames taking what was important from people. While light was a little warm at best, fire was burning hot, sizzling sound of burning flesh, screams of pain.

Byun Baekhyun came from the kingdom of Light, a small realm that liked to remain peaceful. He was the only prince and heir of the royalty. Prince Baekhyun inherited the kindness of his ancestors which was the ultimate reason why the kingdom was failing, its inhabitants getting poorer and weaker every year because he wasn’t able to protect his people or form powerful alliances or trading agreements. A few royal advisers were the only thing the young prince had, after he had to take over the throne eight years ago at the mere age of eleven. Now he was 19, the peaceful realm of light was falling apart and the last choice the prince had left was to marry the powerful lord of the kingdom of fire. The very own nation that killed Baekhyun’s family. 

Park Chanyeol was heir to the biggest and most powerful kingdom and Baekhyun had actually thought it was useless. Why should a king with that calibre marry a failure like him? So the king of Light didn’t put much hope in their request. He had nothing to offer after all. A small and weak kingdom maybe. An easy extensions to the big fire kingdom. But nothing more. That’s why Baekhyun and his advisers were actually shocked when they saw that the king had agreed. How was that possible? But Baekhyun didn’t question it. Didn’t want to question it. All he could think about was how he wouldn’t need to be in this position anymore. He hadn’t been ready to be king. Had never been. He was the younger brother, he had received education, but he was never trained to be a king like his older brother. But Baekbom had died together with the rest of his family in the flames. All Baekhyun was left with were some faint burn marks and a traumatic fear of fire, but no family. No knowledge about how to actually reign. He had just been a little boy that lost his family and a few days later he had found himself on the throne with people vowing him their loyalty without knowing that it was a pure waste. He was a failure.  
So the boy was happy and eager to start preparations for the wedding and his move to the Kingdom of Fire.  
There was no time for him to think about how the Fire Kingdom was the actual reason that he ended up in this situation. It wasn’t King Chanyeol that had ordered to kill the Byun Family. It was actually his father and this was enough of a excuse for Baekhyun to easily surrender his Kingdom to a marriage with the Firelord. There was also no time for him to think about how much he hated fire. How much it scared him. Instead he thought about how his marriage would probably be. A big part of him hoped for love. Maybe not instantly, but there was a possibility, right? Maybe he and the king could love each other someday?  
It was some kind of ecstasy that drove the boy, making him forget all his pain and worries and fear. He arranged for himself to depart and leave the Light Kingdom as soon as he could after he received the agreement. So not even two weeks after their agreement he found himself traveling to the Fire Kingdom. It only took two days and he was in contact with the king, or his assistants, so by the time he arrived, the wedding would be held immediately.  
What he didn’t think about, however, was the fact that the whole kingdom consisted of his biggest fear and would be a constant reminder of his miserable life. Some small part in his mind was aware of it, but chose to not act up in order to get things done in the first place. He purposely refused to look out of the windows when they crossed the borders, he refused to take in the big palace properly. He refused to look the people there in the eyes. He refused to acknowledged that the whole country, the whole palace, the whole population were a manifestation of his fear. Were actually the reason for his situation and his desperation. 

 

 

 

It was when he met eyes with the king in the great hall right at the wedding ceremony, that he realized he ended up in his personal hell. Firelord Chanyeol was tall, he looked weak and small next to him. His shoulders were broad and he seemed well endowed on all parts of his body, looking like how a true king should. Baekhyun, standing next to him, was the complete opposite in every aspect.  
Both wore their designed color and traditional robes. Chanyeol wore a Burgundy uniform with black and golden details, it resembled an armor more than it did a ceremonial garment, all leather and chestplate, a sword resting on his hip. His hair matching both his kingdom and robe, deep red strands of hair, expertly styled out of his face, exposing his forehead and his fierce gaze. An intriguing crown on his head, that was both bold and decent. Flames weren’t an obvious motive, but the serrates were sculpted in such an obscure way, that there was a faint reminder that the carrier was indeed the Firelord.  
Baekyhun’s garments were a lot softer, a white tunic with silver details, white form fitting pants and silver shoes together with his caramel blonde hair. Intriguing lines of silver adorning the clothing, lightweight pieces of the same color as cuffs on the sleeves. A lot of parts were pure white lace, making the robe looking timid from afar, but playful from near. Only Chanyeol was close enough to see the bits of skin exposed on his chest and the sides of his hips. 

Baekhyun couldn’t even remember how he ended up in this set up. How he found his way in this big hall that was neither dark nor bright. Torches were placed on the walls with big flames, its crackle making the young king jump. They created a scary game of light and shadows that made Baekhyun feel uneasy. The people were clothed in similar gear as his groom, albeit not as intimidating and ceremonial. Baekhyun was practically the only one with a robe like him, his advisers already dressed in the robes of the fire kingdom. Not one person from the Light Kingdom except him that was noticeable. Baekhyun felt alone.  
What scared him the most though was the ceiling of the big hall, who was actually the throne room. It consisted only of fire, a strange force seemed to hold it up there. Baekhyun felt suffocated, like the flames would pour down on him like rain drops every moment. He had only looked up once, refusing to look up again once he felt cold sweat forming on his skin. He tried to push his fear away once again, just a little more. Hoping his mind could withhold all of this horror for a little longer, just until the ceremony was over and Baekhyun could retreat for the night and cry himself to sleep.  
He tried to focus his attention to the priest and his soon to be husband, he was seeing him for the first time ever after all. He was so handsome, his face stoic but sculpted carefully, like god would have taken his time with him. He had golden eyes, so fierce and proud. His posture was upright and truly fit for a king. Everything he had heard about the king seemed to be true. He was powerful and collected, in control of everything. Once he saw how Chanyeol looked back at him, also not really paying attention to the priest right before them, the boy pulled up his shoulders and casted his gaze down on their feet. Even his shoes looked way too small next to the Firelord. Way too powerless. The taller noticed, too, of course. 

Chanyeol didn’t really care for the little prince, he had never acknowledged him as a king ever since Baekhyun was crowned as a little boy, he had simply ignored him and his folks, it was the nicest thing he could do after his father killed off almost the whole royal family and then abandoned further involvement in the country right before he died. But he couldn’t ignore how beautiful Baekhyun was. He truly was shining like the sun, his beauty lighting up the room that was only lit up by the torches. He looked so kind and fragile and totally out of place. Chanyeol felt like crushing him with his own presence, just because he was next to him. The way Baekhyun looked down after he had noticed him staring at him. The way a blush crept on his face was way too inferior and adorable for him. The king actually didn’t expected for him to find himself interested in the boy, he expected for the boy to be mediocre at best but Baekhyun was actually a beauty. A mostly useless one at best, but still a beauty.

It had been time for Chanyeol to settle down anyway and the Light Kingdom had a perfect location for his future moves. It was alongside the edge of his own, making his own realm expand nicely and giving him more and better access to his other trading partners and future conquests on the globe. He could have just invaded the small land but it seemed unnecessary. He was known as a ruthless and evil king, not that it wasn’t a lie but it certainly wasn’t the truth either. He had goals he strived to achieve and if force and war was needed to achieve them, then so be it. But he didn’t bother with going overboard. Yet all the other kingdoms and royal families were judging him, avoiding him at social gatherings and it irked the powerful king. The Light kingdom was not an important area on the globe nor in politics. Most countries ignored it and pitied it at most because of the young and lonely prince that was obviously crushed by his responsibilities and hopeless future for his people. If Chanyeol took the opportunity and turned the poor kingdom into a powerful area just like his own and had the mysterious and unlucky little prince on his side, people would maybe see more than a monster in him, even if he probably was one. For his own country though, Baekhyun seemed useless so that’s the reason he didn’t bother with getting to know anything about him or even travel to see the boy before their marriage. He didn’t plan on interacting much with him, sharing a bed each night (or maybe not each) was the most of he wanted to give him. But seeing him now, Chanyeol found himself interested in him. Maybe he could serve him good after all. He smiled and decided to finally look back at the priest.

 

 

Despite the fire everywhere, the ceremony was… cold. There were no real emotions exchanged together with the rings. Baekhyun had tried to look up and smile at his husband, still holding onto that hope of love but the Firelord was looking at him with indifference in his eyes and suddenly he wasn’t so sure anymore. He still tried to remain a somewhat happy expression on his face, still trying to fool himself. When they turned for the crowd to see them, he looked down where his hand was connected with his now husband, small and delicate fingers between long and strong ones. Both wore a golden band decorated with flames around their ring finger. He felt like crying, because he knew that the wedding ring and the bed were the only things they would share. Nothing more. 

 

 

 

Even after the ceremony they didn’t talk to each other. Baekhyun had hoped for some words, he himself was way too shy and intimidated by the place, too concentrated on blending out the heat that was following him on every step, to initiate a conversation all by himself. Chanyeol really didn’t seem to care, taking his hand and leading him to the throne was the only thing he did. Baekhyun flinched at first but didn’t struggle against the hold, even though he felt so fragile in the elder’s hand. They both sat down. Chanyeol on the big throne that had impressive wings at the back rest, symbolizing a phoenix, the signature of the Kingdom. Baekhyun sat down on the smaller one, it was missing those wings. Both were impressive in color, both golden with burgundy accents and impressive carvings and ornaments. Baekhyun concentrated on them, his eyes fixed on the flames that were imprinted on the armrest. They made him uneasy but he knew they weren’t real. If he was too look up, he had to face real flames and he knew he couldn’t do that. So he remained like that, head down and silent.

 

Chanyeol didn’t seem to mind that he was the one who handled the congratulations of the guests. Baekhyun was glad, he wouldn’t know what to say. Nobody seemed too interested in him, they all only looked him up from his head to his toe, but never addressed him personally. Even if he had avoided social gatherings with other kingdoms ever since, he knew very well about his reputation. Nobody had ever taken him seriously, how no one just conquered his Kingdom was beyond him. They probably just pitied him. Everybody did. He knew that his advisers did too, because they knew he needed it when one of them came up to them and bowed deeply in front of Chanyeol before he suggested for Baekhyun to take a little break outside for fresh air. He had traveled for two days without much sleep and then went right to the ceremony, so it was understandable. The boy hesitate a little, even when Chanyeol nodded and accepted the request while giving him a last glance. Baekhyun thanked his adviser with silent eyes before he lowered his head in a subtle but effective bow for Chanyeol and then got up, quickly making his way to the big patio that led to the palace’s garden. Baekhyun was relieved to see that, even if it was only lit up by some lanterns, he could only see green. No aggressive red. No flames. Just nature. He left out a breath he seemed to hold for quite some time and he walked into the dimly garden until he found a canopy with a wooden floor where he could sit down without getting grass stains in his robe. It was practically the only thing he still had that made him an inhabitant from the Light Kingdom. It needed to be cherished. The wood was hard but Baekhyun wasn’t picky and he sat down, his back pressed against the wooden railing of the canopy and his legs hugged deeply onto his chest. Baekhyun buried his head on his knees and hugged himself, making himself as small as possible. 

The sad king knew he couldn’t hide forever, knew that he had to face reality as soon as possible because otherwise it would hurt even more. But he just couldn’t. He felt like he would give in and forget who he was. Throw away the last thing that connected him with his family. Baekhyun slowly raised a finger into the darkness. Light surrounded the digit in soft little spots, lighting up the area around him but not by far. He had always thought the gift that came with being a citizen of the Light Kingdom was beautiful. Light was calm and kind. At least theirs was. 

His powers were everything but developed or even considered as somewhere near strong. It was a tradition that owners of power were trained and educated by their family since every Familie’s power was different and needed a specific training. Baekhyun’s family died so no one was there to teach them, all the people that could have helped him burned to death years ago and all the documents about their families techniques were destroyed so he grew up as a weak king with weak powers. It also wasn’t like he had any motivation to learn how to use his power, the memory of his family would come back whenever he tried to improve. But sometimes he needed to see the light he could produce, even if it wasn’t impressive. He just wanted for his sanity to stay a little bit longer.

But he soon found out it was in vain when the calm light on his fingertip changed himself into a nasty flame and heat enveloped the boy’s face. He jumped, the flame crackled angrily at him and Baekhyun felt like his finger would be burned alive. Tears gathered in his eyes, ready to scream his lungs out when the flame suddenly disappeared and he heard a low chuckle. Baekhyun’s head immediately shot to the source of that sound, making out a figure in the dim light of the lanterns. The tall frame was coming closer and the boy looked up when nobody less than the Firelord was standing right before him, a smirk plastered on his lips as he slowly crouched down to the boy. „You know flames are in every corner. You can’t avoid them forever.“ The younger flinched at that. For once because it was true, but he didn’t want to hear it, acknowledge it. And second, the King’s voice was so deep and gave him chills. The only thing he had heard from his now husband was the syllable „Yes“ at the altar. Baekhyun didn’t know what to answer but he couldn’t stand the king watching him like this. He had sharp features, even his slightly sticking out ears were intimidating in a way. The whole garment that reminded him of an armor wasn’t helping. „I’m just… a little overwhelmed. This.. this country is different from mine.“ He dodged the elders words. Chanyeol chose to not expose the boy any more and just nodded, albeit still with a smirk on his lips. „It surely is.“ Baekhyun tried to smile at those words, he really wanted to try to get along with the king. Chanyeol didn’t seem to mind the lack of response and merely eyed the boy more. He really was beautiful, it was a different kind of beautiful than what was standard in his kingdom. The people of the Fire Kingdom had their element in them, they were bold, fierce and strong. This boy was so fragile and delicate. Both in his physique and obviously also his personality. Chanyeol wondered how long the smaller could probably withstand his new home. It couldn’t be too long possibly, the fire within Chanyeol’s blood was aching to test the boy.

 

 

 

„Do you like the palace?“ Chanyeol asked the boy suddenly. Baekhyun looked up pretty surprised at that question, but nodded slowly. „Yes! It’s impressive.. everything here is so.. big.. and noble.“ He said, genuine in his voice. Not that he had seen much but the obvious big size and what little he could see in the throne room spoke for itself. Chanyeol smirked, looking at the boy. „Those words doesn’t seem like they’re fit to come out of the mouth of a prince.“ He said and watched as the boy bit his lips, well aware that the firelord called him prince on purpose, he had never accepted him as a king after all. No one did actually. He actually agreed with them. „Aren’t you used to such luxury?“ He asked. Baekhyun now lowered his head in shame. „As you know, my kingdom isn’t as wealthy and big as yours is, my lord. My… the.. the main palace burned down when.. when..“ The boy bit his lips again, fighting against his tears while he was reminded of what happened years ago, resisting the urge to curl deeper into himself. He quickly continued speaking as to not start to cry. „I had to move to the smaller palace in our country and as a poor king-“ He winced when he spoke that word, he was a failure of a king, not fit to call himself that. „I lived simple as to not be too expensive, my people had to live under bad conditions because of me, so I… simply had no right to live a lavish life.“ Chanyeol nodded, he expected an answer like this. He now came closer to the boy, well aware of how his breath hitched and he visibly tensed when the taller was close enough for him to feel his breath. „I see. You can be happy then that I will take care of everything as of now. You can enjoy the privilege of someone your status without guilt.“ Chanyeol’s smile was almost kind. Almost. „However.“ He said, raising his hand to caress the boy’s narrow shoulder. Baekhyun winced again, the burning heat in his hand hurting the fragile skin. Pain shoot through him, sizzling in the air as his flesh burned through the robe and Baekhyun wanted to scream. „If you ever show me a reason to not trust you or if you disappoint me, then believe me it doesn’t take long for me to strip you off those privileges again.“ He added more pressure to the boy’s tender flesh, making him cry out more, now grabbing onto the man’s muscular wrists, his dainty fingers looking so small on it. „You will remain as a prince from now on. I don’t see you fit to be a king next to me.“ He added and then took back his hand, the boy dropped the side, holding his shoulder, his heart pounding against his chest at that pain.

„And to make sure you know you are now belonging to the fire kingdom, I’ll give you something to always be reminded.“ The king grabbed the boy and pressed him face down on the wooden ground. The sound of fabric was heard as Chanyeol carelessly tore the robe off his shoulders and Baekhyun soon found himself screaming when something hot bore himself into his left shoulder blade. All Baekhyun could do was cry and take it while this familiar smell infiltrated his nose.  
That familiar smell of burned flesh. Tears streamed down his face as he experienced the horror again.

 

 

 

 

 

His father had pushed him into the servant passage, a small door on the wall that led to the serving tract of the palace, telling him frantically that he should run. But 11 year old Baekhyun couldn’t bring himself to move, so his father pushed his foot against the door to close it. Not enough to block the boy’s vision with the door, but enough for other people not to notice that it actually was a door and someone was hiding behind it. It was almost too late because at that moment the main entrance of the throne hall was destroyed and a sheer uncountable amount of soldiers marched in. Little Baekhyun couldn’t make out were all the flames came from, but they were there, they accompanied the group of people. Just like the smell of something burned, like that time when he had tried to cook for Baekbom but failed. But this smell was different, deeper and.. even more disgusting. He winced when the soldiers grabbed his family. They shouted something, but Baekhyun couldn’t make out what they said.  
His mother was the first one to be pushed on the ground, a hand in his hair her only support. Little Baekhyun felt tears in his eyes, what were they doing to his mother? Her first scream was the loudest, one that would never leave the little prince’s ears.  
Though they started small with her, a foot on her back, a strange power Baekhyun had never seen burning a gap into it. Little lines of flames across her fingers. She screamed so loud and Baekbom and his father struggled in their hold in the hands of some soldiers, but they just pushed them down on the knees. The strange men just seemed to play with the woman, damaging her skin, yet just in small bits. But they didn’t hurt any less. It was when their leader grabbed a fistful of her hair to yank her head back, by now it was only limply laying on her shoulders, her eyes lidded and unfocused. The man pressed two fingers against her chest and he seemed to take his sweet time boring them in her chest with the help of the flames and heat surrounding his skin. When he reacher her heart, it took only a few more seconds before he made it stop and he lost the grip in her hair. She fell to the ground lifelessly, a small hole in her upper chest where some blood was dripping out now.

The smell of burned flesh started to reach Baekhyun’s nose when they continued with his brother, who was already devastated last seeing his mother being killed like this. They showed no mercy in him, either, their methods began to become even crueler. Their hands sinked into his flesh, ripping out parts of it. They fell to the ground like some kind of human waste and Baekhyun wanted to scream just like his brother, wanted to run but he just couldn’t. He was glued to the place, his body not reacting and he was left to watch with wide eyes.  
Their father was screaming, begging them to stop when someone ripped out a part of his son’s cheek, his teeth getting visible from the side. He trashed against the soldiers hold, tears streaming down his face but there was no use. His arms were pressed even more against his back until there was a crack and the King of the Light screamed at the painful feeling of his bones cracking. His son wasn’t recognizable anymore when his body finally gave up.  
The man fell on his knees, he was finally let got and he crawled to his son and his wife, both burned to death in the most inhuman way he could have imagined. They laughed at him, at his pathetic reach for his beloved ones with his broken arm, that just limply hung down in the middle every time he tried. When they were bored because the king wasn’t going anyway, the leader once again took the initiative to end it, they had drawn out the fun long enough. He pressed the helpless man down by the neck with his foot, boots pressed against the seemingly frail royal. Once again flames worked his way through the flesh until a clean cut divided the head from the body and it fell to the ground like a ball.  
Baekhyun still couldn’t move. His eyes were full of horror and his nose full of burned flesh. No sound would escape his lips and only when heat surrounded him and the head of his father was kicked in his full vision that filled itself with more and more flames, did he run. 

 

The flames and the Fire Kingdom had taken Baekhyun’s family and left him alone, with only fear as his accompaniment. He would never forget his father’s dead eyes, his mothers screams and his brother’s face of agony before they died.  
Chanyeol’s powers were strong, even stronger than he had expected. He only found out later that evening after the ceremony, when he had dragged himself into their chamber after Chanyeol was done with him and left him on the wooden floor of the canopy, way too exhausted and ruined to go back to the throne room.  
Fire was a brute force, controlling it properly was a hard task, but the Firelord seemed to master it perfectly. When Baekhyun had looked into the mirror, all torn clothes and tears in his eyes, he was almost impressed at the filigree of Chanyeol’s power. Fine lines were scattered across his left shoulder blade, forming into an impressive portrait of a phoenix. The lines were deep red and the skin already swollen, still burning and Baekhyun had difficulties to breath because it hurt so much. He sniffled, he did have some burn marks on his forearms from when his family was killed and he fled through the flames, they were faint but still so present in their ugliness in his eyes. But what Chanyeol did was almost aesthetic, albeit not any less cruel. Even more so. They were pure intent. The fire scars would remain forever, the King had shown him his place on his side as his husband. And it was below him. Baekhyun couldn’t argue with that. He had just hoped that there would be something more. Just something. 

 

 

 

 

Deep down Baekhyun had always known it was useless, but a small part of him had grabbed deeply onto his thought that this marriage could actually be out of love someday. He really wanted his life to be happy, he had hoped Chanyeol would maybe be the person that could make his life happy. But he wasn’t. They were married for almost a year now. Their relationship was not even close to what Baekhyun had wished it to be. For the most part he was just ignored, Chanyeol didn’t involve him in his politics or his daily schedule, not that he was surprised by that, but even for his former kingdom, the firelord didn’t even consider asking for his husband’s advise. Yes, he had been a failure of a king, but he knew more about the former Light Kingdom. He knew about the people, about how they behaved and what their wishes were. Baekhyun was scared that Chanyeol would mistreat his people. The Light Kingdom wasn’t as bold as the Fire Kingdom. They were more fragile in that aspect. But for what he had heard, the former realm of Light seemed to bloom again, Chanyeol seemed to provide for them so the people could be healthy again and didn’t need to suffer anymore. That was enough for Baekhyun, even if he felt like he lost every connection to his past.

They barely talked. Baekhyun had often tried to initiate conversation, asking the king about his day, Chanyeol would answer in curt sentences, the talk dying down pretty fast. He also never asked back, not really interested in that. He knew that Baekhyun, since he didn’t had any responsibility for the kingdom, was fond of the royal garden and after slowly approaching the topic, started to plant different kinds of flowers and tended to it with some kind of passion. Chanyeol sometimes watched him when Baekhyun was gardening, it was the only time he didn’t see the boy being tense. It made sense, after all. The garden was pure nature, green, calm. It wasn’t as scary as the big walls of fire inside the palace or the numerous torches and strange fire ceilings. It was a safe place for Baekhyun. And if it helped that the boy wouldn’t act up, Chanyeol was fine with providing resources for whatever Baekhyun wanted to plant. 

Most of the time he wouldn’t see his husband anyway, except when he went so sleep. On some days, he stripped Baekhyun off his clothes and ravished him. Baekhyun didn’t despise it, even if he didn’t love it either. Chanyeol wasn’t brutal or mean with him in bed, he was rough, just as expected of a man like him, but he didn’t made the boy suffer more than he needed to, it actually felt good. Still, Baekhyun wasn’t too fond of it. Call him hopeless romantic, but he always wanted love to be involved in sexual intercourse. What he and Chanyeol were doing was definitely not love. But there was absolutely nothing he could do about it and it was the only form of intimacy he had with his husband so he was always pliant, doing everything he could to please.  
So he accepted the rough love making, accepted all the times he got shoved out of the way, got pushed when Chanyeol was angry at something and needed to venture. Chanyeol never hit him. Though sometimes his power was too strong so he burned him when he touched him and Baekhyun was living in panic and agony for days because the fresh burn mark on his body would also tear open his trauma. He wasn’t able to eat then without throwing up, because everything just smelled like burned flesh. He couldn’t wander around in the palace, because the flames would wait for him at every corner. Chanyeol had already caught up on his anxiety and his fearful behavior towards the flames but he didn’t do anything. Baekhyun accepted Chanyeol’s ignorance. What should the king do, anyway? It was the Fire Kingdom, he had to deal with it no matter how scared he was. As long as Baekhyun could hold himself when in public he had no issues.

 

He always seemed to do well in public gatherings. Especially when they travelled to another country and Chanyeol wanted to persuade his goal of getting a better reputation. He still wasn’t overly affectionate, but Baekhyun cherished these moments, because for a short amount of time, he was treated almost like a real husband. Chanyeol did a good job in making the other royalties feel bad about abandoning Baekhyun while he took the sad king under his wing, even if he did exactly the same. Acting like he was the one that saved Baekhyun, was the hero that approached the younger while all the other kingdoms just laughed behind their hand about the failure of a king. Baekhyun really wanted to believe that it was true, but Chanyeol made it no secret to him about how he only acted like that to gain more prestige. But like always, the smaller acted according to his husband’s wishes. He even engaged in some small talk with the court of other realms. Sometimes Chanyeol would hold his hand and acted affectionate and Baekhyun loved to indulge himself in that attention because he was so drained of it. 

 

 

 

 

A few months later, after their first anniversary, not that anybody other than Baekhyun would remember, there was an event held at the Fire Kingdom’s main palace. Chanyeol hadn’t told his husband much, only that a gathering would be held after a summit between the nations. From the guests he had seen so far, Baekhyun assumed it was a conference that mostly leaned towards a more ugly part of politics. While he walked through the big throne hall, head bowed enough so he wouldn’t see too much of the crackling flames on the ceiling and the scary shadows along the walls, he saw people in similar gear to those Chanyeol usually wore. Robes that were similar to uniforms, pants with vests and armor parts, sometimes even decorative swords on their hips, which Baekhyun was pretty sure they were actually real ones. The prince hated that he stood out so much with his own garments. He still preferred to wear long robes instead of the uniform like garments his husband wore. He had changed the light and gentle colors of the Light Kingdom to the Burgundy and dark ones of the Fire Kingdom, yet the style remained similar to his older clothes even if he assumed he looked more fierce with some leather parts that almost reminded of armorpieces. His innocent and young face was still ruining the fierce image he could potentially have. He was also way younger than the guests. Chanyeol was already one of the younger kings and he was a decade older than Baekhyun. The prince wanted nothing more than to retreat to their chambers for the rest of the night but he knew that he had to show himself for at least another hour before he could retire for the night without being a rude host.  
His eyes looked out for Chanyeol, hoping he could grasp onto him and earn some fake attention and was left disappointed when he found him rising on some kind of platform right in front of his throne to hold a speech. 

 

The prince was educated, but he didn’t really understand a lot of what Chanyeol said, war had never been his field, people from the Light were among the most peaceful and pacifistic ones. Instead Baekhyun focused on the sound of his voice. It was deep and powerful, demanding everyones attention. The boy wished he would have one ounce of the confidence his husband had, but he knew he didn’t deserve it.  
„And now I present you some criminals that deserve a punishment upon them for their crimes. In my Kingdom no felony will receive mercy.“

Baekhyun scrunched his nose in irritation at the mention of a punishment. By now he was aware that it was a normal thing around the globe, even in public to prevent the population from committing them. Baekhyun had never left his kingdom before he married Chanyeol which meant he didn’t really know about other countries and how they handled different situations. He didn’t know that a public punishment was that common. Obviously some Kingdoms were stricter and some not. Punishments like this didn’t even exist in the Light Kingdom and in the Fire Kingdom they were the harshest. So Baekhyun had to deal with the full brute all at once.  
In his year with the Firelord, he had never witnessed this kind of public event. Chanyeol had never required for him to come or force him, it was something that concerned his own kingdom and his own people, so Baekhyun wasn’t needed. He almost only put his marriage to use when they left the country. Or when he was in the mood for his husband’s body close to him in his bed.  
He didn’t mind sharing a bed with the boy. Sometimes he retreated to a personal room if he wanted space for himself, but other than that their bed was mostly occupied.  
Most of the time he would let Baekhyun cling to him after that. Chanyeol didn’t seem to care about that, he was indifferent when the boy laid his head on the man’s chest and the boy was content with that. At the next day, however, Baekyhun could find small lines on his body that hurt. Burned flesh. He didn’t know if Chanyeol burned him on purpose or if it just happen throughout his sleep but after months of doing that, there were numerous little scars scattered around the boy’s body. The King never commented on them when he touched him, he usually was just focused on what he was doing int he moment.  
He may not be interested in the boy, but Baekhyun was a beautiful thing too look at and he felt good under his fingertips, especially after a tiring day of reigning like the cruel King he seemed to be.

And probably was. Because he hadn’t even thought about Baekhyun when he organized the punishment for this day’s gathering of his alleges. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for him to do, just the first time he did it since Baekhyun was part of his court. 

 

Baekhyun felt like he was suffocating when he saw men white robes getting pushed on the platform. He wanted to scream but he couldn’t. Never since he accounted the information of public punishments had he thought that his own people could be affected by those. They were part of the Fire Kingdom, yes, but they were still people of the Light realm, right? He truly wanted to believe that but now he could clearly see that it wasn’t like that. Two men were kneeling on that platform, bloodstains already covered the light robes and one of them had a deep burn mark on his eye.  
This wasn’t about setting a statement for the inhabitants of the Fire Kingdom, because commoners, expect for servants, weren’t present. This was purely to show the other royals that Chanyeol throughly controlled the former Light realm.  
He had always been silent and pliant, because that was what he was required to do to help his Kingdom. But this wasn’t right. He started to run, pushing through the people that had gathered around the platform. He shouted at the top of his lungs when he passed the front row. „No!!“ It was weird hearing his own voice like this because he was always quiet. Chanyeol seemed to be surprised at the boy and raised an eyebrow. His eyes were cold, almost dead when they locked gazes with each other. „What are you doing here, love?“ He asked and slowly made his way to the boy. Baekhyun shook his head with tears in his eyes, he didn’t want to play this game of loving husbands when in truth he wasn’t worth a damn to the Firelord. „Stop this!“ Baekhyun commanded, he may had been a failure of a king, lonely and so empty inside but there was still love for his home. His only connection to his family. His only memory besides their tortured bodies. „Those are criminals, Baekhyun.“ Chanyeol just said, now standing right in front of him, placing a hand on his arm. To their guests it seemed like he wanted to comfort him, but in truth it was a threat to stop speaking out of line. But this time, Baekhyun couldn’t obey. „They are my people!“ The boy spoke, his whole body shaking and tears streaming down his face. There was something inside of him. He felt so odd, what was happening? „Your people?“ Chanyeol spoke lowly now, only for his husband and not for anyone else. „The Light Kingdom is no more.“ He said while gripping the fragile arm and Baekhyun felt the heat entering his body. No. Please no. „It’s the Fire Kingdom now. Thanks to you. And you aren’t a king, Baekhyun.“ Those words were all true, but he didn’t want to believe them. The boy let out another sob, he looked up at the man he wanted to love but couldn’t, at the man he wanted to love him, but that didn’t happen either. Then he looked at the white robes behind the king, some soldiers were already at the side of the two criminals. He couldn’t believe that his own people had to suffer even more because of him. He saw the burn marks that were already placed on the bodies, the torn white clothing. It reminded him of his wedding night and the phoenix that was placed on his back ever since that night. He heard the sound of his own clothing getting ripped off his shoulders. He felt every thin line that made the phoenix complete. He felt the pain. The boy’s shoulders slumped down and Chanyeol retrieved his arms, turning because he already decided this wouldn’t need further attention from him. Baekhyun’s opinion had never been important anyway so he could only feel indifference towards the little outburst of his husband.  
What he didn’t expect however was for the smaller to grip him by the shoulders and turn him back so he would face him. „No! Please.“ He heard sobs and cries and Chanyeol contemplated if he should just burn the boys tongue but when he had turned around there was nothing but light. He couldn’t see anything, blinded by the light. He could make out a faint silhouette that must be Baekhyun but other than that it was just … bright.  
Fire was a burning pain, a throbbing one, Chanyeol knew it, he didn’t become king without having his fair share of combats and fights. But the pain he felt right now was piercing. His shoulders, where Baekhyun’s hands seemingly laid were hurting, it was sharp like little blades were digging itself into his flesh. He didn’t know if he was bleeding, Chanyeol groaned. Wasn’t Baekhyun supposed to be weak in power? Why was he lighting up the whole throne hall, blinding everyone and on top of that hurt him with his power on a level he shouldn’t have been able to control. Everything became brighter, everything hurt even more, until he was pushed back by a sheer invisible force and landed on the ground. 

 

 

 

 

Up from then Baekhyun wasn’t able to set things apart. He was no time given to process what happened, what he had done. No time for him to realize that he was the one that had unleashed a power like this. He didn’t know how, he just wanted for his people too be free, to be spared. He just wanted to be not a failure anymore. To be loved. But that didn’t happened so his desperation had manifested itself in a power he wasn’t aware of. He had never seen something like this, even his brother, who was a master in the Power of Light, had never done something like this. Why Baekhyun? 

 

 

Chanyeol was injured, but he was alive. Everything happened in a rush, but also in slow motion. Soldiers grabbed him, there was a commotion, he couldn’t hear, he only smelled burned flesh as the King got up, pain in his shoulders, blood soaking his clothes. Chanyeol turned around, facing the platform and extended his hand, Baekhyun heard screams as the men in the white robes burned to death. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun was declared a threat to the king, yet he wasn’t killed even if it would have been the better option. They took him away and he found himself chained to a wall like a dog, bound to some metal handcuffs that hurt his fragile wrists. 

 

The source and also the weakness of his powers were simple. Light. He couldn’t use it if there was no trace of light in his surroundings. Even in the night there were indications. The moon for example. If everything was pitch black, the power was weak. A lot of training was needed to create light out of pure imagination. Baekhyun didn’t receive that training and his insides were dark too, there was no light inside of him for his power to feed off. The source of the peaceful mindset of his home was also because happiness symbolized light in your soul. But Baekhyun wasn’t happy, had never bin the past decade. That meant without his eyesight he was absolutely powerless. He couldn’t do any harm.

 

All he could do was hoping for Chanyeol to get him back. Forgive him. He would do anything. 

 

So he waited. Hours. Days. Months. But he never came.

 

There was only eternal darkness for him now.  
Darkness and the sizzling of fire around him. He couldn’t see, but he could feel it. His biggest fear would stay with him. 

 

Baekhyun wished he had died in the flames.


End file.
